Monthly Archives: July 2013

Back in June of 2011, I blogged "Karen’s Letter." I found the actual letter recently and attached to it was Karen’s response. I hope you enjoy what came next. I will review the letter for my new readers…

First, my letter to a coworker who just lost her 20-year-old son to a motorcycle accident, written in May of 1998…

Dear Karen,

Where do I begin? I guess I’ll tell you a little about me that you don’t know. I have kind of a letter writing ministry. The Lord has me write letters often times when friends have lost a loved one, and maybe, just maybe, something I write will give you some peace at this difficult time.

I don’t know if you believe in God, or life after death, but I want to share a very personal experience with you. About midnight one evening as I knelt beside my bed in prayer, while my entire family lay sleeping, an extraordinary thing happened. As I was saying my prayers my entire pitch dark bedroom filled with light. I felt incredible peace, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, almost like I was floating. It was total peace, total relaxation, and total tranquility. It was wonderful! It lasted about 20 minutes or so, and when it was over I was left with "A knowing" that Jesus is alive and well, that God is real, and that there is something special after death that awaits us. All the doubts I ever had about God’s existence left me that day, and have never returned. That experience happened a little over 20 years ago and it is still vivid in my mind.

Now, when you think about your son, I want you to picture him in a utopia of peace, happiness, joy, and love such as he never knew here on earth. It’s more loving and more wonderful than your wildest dreams can imagine. None of my words seem strong enough to express what I saw and what I know.

But, I do know that God is real, God is all love (even though right now you are angry with Him for taking your son), and if you could see your son right now, you would know what I mean.

One last thing; often times I have a vision while writing these letters and I am having one now. I keep seeing your boy, standing over his motorcycle, helmet on, one leg over the seat, full of pride, tall and handsome, and just in back of him, a man in a white robe, arms outstretched, standing as if he is waiting to catch him when he falls. It’s beautiful, just beautiful! (I also heard him speak, but was afraid to mention this to Karen.)

Forgive me for making you cry again, but your son is okay; he really is!

Love and Caring in Jesus’s name, Claire xoxo

—

THE DREAM- Part 2, Journal Entry, May 3, 1998

A few days after mailing Karen her letter she cornered me in the ladies room at work and we spoke privately.

"How did you know my son was tall? He was over 6’1"! And how did you know how proud he was of that bike? It’s the first time in his life that he purchased anything and accomplished something. For four days he was after me to go see it, and I never did!" Karen told me.

"Obviously, you weren’t supposed to see it!" I told her.

"I believe in God," she went on, "But…? Claire, do you believe in messages in dreams?" she asked me teary-eyed.

"Yes, absolutely! It is scriptural that our sons and daughters will prophesy, and our young men will see visions, and our old men will dream dreams!"

Karen went on, "My son and daughter were very close and she is having a hard time accepting this. My daughter had a dream last night that she ran into her brother and she hugged him and said, ‘I’ve got you back! I’m so glad! I’ve got you back!" And he replied in her dream, ‘No, I just came to tell you I’m so happy and I’m all right, and it’s beautiful here, so beautiful; it’s awesome, really awesome!" (His favorite expression.)

I was shocked at what she just told me, so I decided to share the rest of my own experience, "Karen, in my vision as I wrote the letter to you, I heard as I saw him, ‘It’s beautiful, just beautiful and it’s awesome!’ but I didn’t want to tell you or upset you more. We hugged and cried together for a few minutes and then both of us went off to work.

These confirmations she told me made me realize, my vision was definitely from God. Our God truly is an awesome God!!

Love in Christ, Claire xoxo

Acts 2:16+17, In the last days God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams!" (NIV)

P.S. This year, 2013, Karen passed away at the young age of 59, and joined her son.

This is something I have been doing now for many years and it works, it really works…

CONCENTRATED PRAYER Journal Entry- November, 2001

Concentrated prayer! It is the most powerful weapon I have. I call it that because it’s different from my every day prayers. You know the kind I’m talking about, "Please Lord, take care of me and my family, keep me healthy, give me a good job, heal my friends and family, thank you for listening to me, amen," and on and on.

Those are daily prayers. But concentrated prayer is unique. And it works! It goes sort of like this; A need for someone or something consumes your mind. You are so uncomfortable about it you often lose sleep over the problem. Many times you feel powerless to do anything about it, but you know it is so important that you can’t get it out of your thoughts.

This is the point at which concentrated prayer begins. It is a total commitment to giving the problem to the Lord, and you don’t let up on speaking to Him about it until you actually see results, whether or not they are your expected answers. It’s a trusting in God, and letting Him have control of the situation and the end results. Most importantly, you must accept those results as God’s, even if they are not at all what you want. Sound deep? It is deep! It’s so deep that you can’t even waste a split second on wondering if God is real, or if He hears you or not. You become sort of like a child tugging at His pant leg, asking for a lollipop and not letting go until you get it. Sometimes you will be told you have to wait; sometimes you get what you want; and sometimes you have to be content with a, "No, My plan is perfect!"

There’s no going back! I have learned over the years that this kind of prayer takes total commitment. It means praying constantly, occasionally for hours a day even to the point of exhaustion. But it works! It really really works!

I’m thinking my readers out there would like some kind of confirmation! Ok, here’s a few examples:

Two children in my Christian friend’s family had severe health problems with their kidneys, potentially bad enough to kill both of them. This caused me to lose a great deal of sleep. I love that family dearly and I knew both kids were facing major surgery. I decided to go into my concentrated prayer. I spent hours and hours of time at this. I prayed in English, "Please God, don’t let those beautiful babies die. Please control the surgeon’s hands!" I prayed in my prayer language sitting outside the hospital during each surgery until I fell asleep from emotional exhaustion. I prayed and prayed and prayed, and I would not be distracted.

Their surgeries were scheduled about six months apart, and now a year has passed and both children are doing absolutely wonderful! The end results aren’t always this great, but God knew their mother was falling apart, and it wasn’t in His plan to take either child.

Another example:

At my work I have been subject to endless harassment, both sexual and emotional. I have lost many hours of sleep over this problem, often waking up with nightmares and sweats over the threats to me if I don’t stop complaining and let the, "Boys be boys!"

About a year ago I decided to go into my concentrated prayer and started petitioning God to clean up my work place. Our union treats some people very badly, me included, especially since I started voicing my outrage of the treatment of minorities. Intolerable conditions such as threats to my personal belongings, pushing me out of my dispatcher job, retaliation to my objections, and worse, have continued. This prayer has yet to be answered, at least to my satisfaction. But, I still hang in there and am encouraged every so often by conversation with my coworkers. (Also read last week’s blog for more progress.)

Final example:

Today, as I write this journal entry, my concentrated prayer is for my youngest daughter. Her boyfriend and her have set a wedding date. Losing sleep has become a way of life for me over this. But, she is 25 years old and ready to settle down, get married, get a house, and maybe eventually have a family. Normally a nonaggressive person, this time she is determined.

My concentrated prayer for her is now all consuming. Every spare minute of my time I’m begging God to get her fiance’ to accept Jesus as his personal Savior, since he is not a believer. For months now I have been on my knees for her and him.

All their lives, I have prayed for my three children to marry King’s Kids; for God to send each of them a mate who believes the same as they do about Jesus Christ. My concentrated prayer will not stop until I see God do something. I will continue to pray.

Love in Christ, Claire xoxo

P.S. Here is a 2013 update. My daughter married in September of 2002. Her husband is still not a Christian, but greatly respects her faith. They are both career minded, have no children, and love each other dearly even now, eleven years after they married. I still pray constantly for him to become a believer.

1 Thess. 5:17, "Pray without ceasing" (NKJV)

1 Thess. 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

Near the end of my career things got really bad at my company, but the Lord never left me. He even had me make a decision on choosing a job that I wanted no part of. But He knew something I didn’t and He was preparing me…

THE DISPATCHER Journal Entry-March 2, 2002

As time passes, my choice, or really God’s choice of my new job is proving to be more perfect every day. Violent incidents occuring at work are part of a trend lately, and had I chosen the job I really wanted, it would have stopped the progression of what I see as part of, "God’s clean up plan of my company!"

For two years I have faithfully prayed for the corruption and violence to be stopped and it is finally starting to happen. It started with our recent rerating (Union workers pick new jobs several times a year). I badly wanted job choice #4 in my department of dispatchers, but God gave me some signs not to take it. I couldn’t understand at the time, but reluctantly I followed His lead. One reason I wanted job four was for the Sunday 12 hour shift, and the overtime it paid, and also it was second shift work which I preferred. But, I complied with the Lord’s direction for me and, to the shock of my coworkers, I took the first shift position.

Within a short time another dispatcher, who got stuck with job #4 that works 12 hours on Sunday, filed a grievance about forced overtime. That grievance led to him getting threatened by another coworker. Also, the union boss told him to keep his mouth shut or he would be eliminated from our office. In turn, the young dispatcher filed a harassment complaint against the union and the threatening coworker. They retaliated and "Keyed" his automobile (scratched up his new paint job). Now he is bringing the MCAD (Mass. Commission Against Discrimination) into it and maybe, just maybe, the company will finally do something about the employees that harass and intimidate all the other employees that don’t go along with their militant ways. If I had taken the job I really wanted, none of this would have progressed! The Lord knew this was going to happen; I did not.

Violence broke out in a maintenance meeting with management yesterday which involved the union president throwing something in the face of our general manager. This is grounds for termination. But we’ll see! The maintenance department has become explosive. Keying vehicles, putting sugar in the gas tanks, urinating on power tools, and gluing lockers shut, are just a few of their little discretions. I fear worse is yet to come. That would support one of the warnings the Lord gave me about picking a job at the rerating that works earlier and gets me out of that place before midnight every day.

I have felt for some time now that violence is going to erupt soon in the company and worse destruction will happen. A couple of the maintenance workers trust and confide in me and what I hear from them is appalling.

So again, God’s advice always proves to be good advice, protecting me and looking out for my future. Sometimes I chastise myself for not having the courage to stand up to these activists. But, I am a 58-year-old grandmother and I’m feeling my age, my feminine side, and my body is starting to slow down, even though all my life I have been a hard worker, and not a quitter.

The violence in yesterday’s meeting was over accountability. Management wants documented work reports daily and maintenance is refusing to do so. Tension is building! I can feel it, management can feel it, and the busdrivers can feel it!

When I specifically asked God why He wanted me to take a job I did not want, He told me, "I WANT YOU OUT OF THERE EARLIER!" That warning scared me enough to make a quick and final decision on taking the day job the Lord was encouraging me to take, and as usual, God’s choice is proving to be right yet again.

I don’t know if it’s a tribute to the Lord when I write about all the horror like this that He’s taking care of in my life, but I do know, I’m most peaceful when I’m not fretting, and instead just asking Him to handle all of it for me.

I believe I take one giant step forward on a day when I’m anxiety free and look in a mirror and say with meaning and belief, "Lord, You are in control of my life, my finances, my work, my family, and my health. Today I refuse to get anxious over any of these things, amen!" If during the day I feel tension building for any reason, I stop, take a deep breath, and repeat the previous prayer as often as is necessary.

Love in Christ, Claire xoxo

P.S. Isaiah 2:4, "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." (NIV)

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